Unlucky
by Zombie-Penguin-Invasion
Summary: Some days luck just turns it's back and ignores us. Unfortunately Sakura and Neji find that out the hard way. Find out how bad luck brings two unlikely people together in a series of unfortunate events. Sak/Neji


**Disclaimer: Sadly, I regret to inform you all that I do not own Naruto. The only thing I do own is this plot I have running in my head..**

**Prologue Part 1:**

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><p>Today was definitely not her day.<p>

As a matter of fact she was pretty sure someone somewhere up above was laughing their merry little ass off as they pointed at her and jumped all over her parade. They probably spit in her coffee this morning too as well the damn bastards.

At least that's what Sakura believed as she stared at the broken key in her hand. How the hell did her key break off in the door knob of her apartment? Staring at the blasted broken key, she couldn't even work up the energy to get angry. Oh she tried, mark her words on that. It was obvious that the key deserved it! The door knob as well! They were conspiring against her! They were in league with the bastards upstairs, she just knew it! …but she just couldn't waste the energy to get angry. At least not right now.

Taking a deep breath, the pinkette closed her tired, pale green eyes and leaned her head against the door of her apartment, her muddy light pink locks shifting to hide her face. After taking a few deep breaths and firmly stomping out the desire to beat her head against the door, she began to contemplate the events of her crappy day.

'_If I knew my day was going to be like this, I would have sound proofed my bedroom and stayed in bed.' _Sakura thought sourly.

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><p><em>Earlier that day…<em>

'_What the hell is that noise?' _Sakura thought as she groaned at the throbbing pressure behind her temples. Her mouth felt like she slept with a wad of cotton balls in her mouth and her body felt like she turned into one of her Shishou's slugs in the middle of a typhoon riddled sea. Another sound alerted her to the presence of another and she desperately tried to remember what the hell happened the night before. Furrowing her eyebrows, she silently wondered why everything was fuzzy, had she been drugged?

Suddenly her stomach lurched and the pinkette scrambled from the bed and barely made it to the toilet in the adjoining bathroom to her room. After properly paying her respects to the porcelain entity before her, she laid her head against her arm that was draped across the seat and it all made perfect sense. She and the rest of the Kunoichi of her age group decided to have their monthly 'Girls Night' at her apartment and got properly wasted. Normally she never allowed herself to get past a certain point in their drinking sprees, silently opting out so she wouldn't have to deal with the hard to cure and disastrous hangovers she was prone to receive as a gift for her stupidity. However, Ino decided to combine their 'Girls Night' with her congratulation party for being promoted to Jonin. Despite her usual responsible drinking habits, Ino won out in the end and sadly here she was…puking her guts out in the cold, white toilet.

Once she was sure her stomach had finally quit its rebellious actions, she slowly stood and turned to the sink in the small bathroom and started at her reflection. Her shoulder length, bubblegum pink locks finally decided that they had enough of their jailer known as gravity and decided to migrate in all directions on top of her head. Dark bags hung underneath her pale green eyes, dull and cloudy with sleep and the remaining alcohol in her system. Her normally pale skin was even paler than usual and she only just registered the fact that she was wearing a stained white tank top and yellow panties. All in all, she looked like crap.

After brushing her teeth and hair, she decided that was the best she was going to get for the moment. Still staring at her reflection, she jumped when someone knock on the door to her little yellow bathroom. "Hey Billboard brow! Hurry up! Some of us have to pee!" Ino's whined through the door. Rolling her eyes, she opened the door to an elated and equally hung over Ino. Glaring at her long-time friend, Sakura decided it was best to let her friend through before she had more problems on her hands besides the raging hangover headache beating behind her brow. Deciding to save her breath instead of rising to her friends old jibe at her forehead, she walked back into her room trying to decide whether or not she should just curl back up under the covers and go back to sleep or get ready to face the day. Lying back down on the bed, she decided a few more hours of rest wouldn't hurt. Just as she was about the fall back into the land of peaceful slumber, she heard a knock on her door.

"Yes?" She asked exasperatedly. She just wanted a few more hours of…

"I-I just wanted to let you know t-that you are suppose to report to the hokage's office an hour ago." Hinata's voice drifted to her through the door. It took a few minutes to compute within Sakura's befuddled brain and when it registered, she threw the covers off of her.

"Shit!" Flying to her closet, she hurriedly threw on her black shorts, red vest, her beige medic skirt and her black kunai pouch on her right thigh. Shoving her black leather gloves in an easy to reach pocket, she then tied her hitai-ate securely to her head and lastly slipping on her knee length ninja sandals, she walked into the kitchen and smiled at the hung over Kunoichi hogging the coffee pot. Deciding she better get to her Shishou's office rather than wait in line for a cup of coffee, she grabbed Ino's untouched coffee on the nearby counter and rushed out the balcony doors in her apartment. While she was just barely managing to dash across the roof tops trying to guzzle the burning coffee in her hands, her head was screaming at her with the force of a thousand sugar high Naruto's and she had an unknown line of toilet paper stuck to the bottom of her sandals. Ignorance is bliss as they say…at least until someone shoves the bliss in a blender and kindly hits puree.

It wasn't much longer until she landed on the window entrance way into the hokages office and landed with as much grace as a lawn mower being dropped in a lake. Quickly righting herself, she looked up and saw the blinking faces of the Hokage, Kakashi…and Neji. "Sakura…so good of you to finally join us and here I thought I'd have to send someone to find you. So glad to know you have the decency to show up five minutes AFTER Kakashi arrived! Maybe I should put you in an assignment with Gai for a few months…" Tsunade glared at her student threateningly all the while cracking her knuckles.

Kakashi chuckled and looked proud at his student. Walking over to his favorite female student and leaned down and began to whisper, "Nice job, good to know I've at least taught one good thing." Kakashi began to chuckle but was abruptly stopped by an elbow in his gut. Clearing her throat, Sakura smiled weakly at Tsunade. "I'm terribly sorry Shishou, but I overslept." Sakura laughed weakly at her lame (but true!) excuse. Sadly she did sound kind of like Kakashi-sensei.

"Whatever, I didn't call you all in here to discuss your lack of responsibility. Now that I can begin now that ALL of you have arrived," Tsunade sent a fiery glare at two out of three of the other occupants within the room, "I have decided to place you all within a temporary team until further notice." Tsunade recited to the three ninja.

"Tsunade-shishou, no offense but why would you place the three of us together? It seems a bit…strange." Sakura asked as the trolls still pounded away at what little must remain of her brain. God she hated hangovers.

Neji looked over disdainfully at the two "slackers" and nodded his head in agreement. "I too would like to know why you would stick me with not one but two _timely_ uncoordinated people." The way he phrased it made Sakura want to growl.

"That's simple, I chose Kakashi because of his experience and his wide range of abilities and I chose Neji for his Byyakugan so he can watch your backs. I doubt I need to tell you you're there for your medical experience and your sharp mind. Now I'm sending you three on a reconnaissance mission in the Land of Waves and I want you gone by tomorrow afternoon." Tsunade said as she brought out a hidden bottle of sake from under the desk. Just the smell sent Sakura's stomach rolling. Sakura hoped fervently she wouldn't puke what was left in her stomach on Tsunade's almost clean floors.

"Sakura you look pale. Are you ill?" Tsunade looked worriedly at the increasingly pale woman. Neji raised an eyebrow and Kakashi hid a knowing smile. After all, _he _had a strong sense of smell and could smell the lingering scent of liquor on the pink haired woman. Sakura swallowed and decided to breathe through her mouth as she decided she _really_ didn't want to puke on Tsunade's floor.

"No Shishou, it's merely a hangover that's all." Sakura said as she forced back the bile. Neji snorted crossed his arms. "Looks like Kakashi wasn't the only one she learned bad habits from. Was that where Hinata-sama was last night?" His holier than thou voice was really starting to grate on her nerves. Cracking her knuckles, Sakura put on her best 'I'm trying to ignore your assholish remarks and you better shut your trap before I hit you' smile and nodded. "All of the Kunoichi were."

"Whatever just make sure your on time tomorrow for the mission. I do not wish to fail it before it even began." Neji snipped upset at the thought of his cousin getting sloshed. Sakura's knuckles cracked with the restraint she was trying to hold as she glared daggers at the dark and long haired Hyuuga. Kakashi began to wisely back himself away to a safe area as the area thickened with the restrained violence radiating from the grumpy and hung over Kunoichi. Tsunade quickly cleared her throat to get their attention once more before a massacre broke out in her office even though she was a bit miffed at Neji herself for the hint about her teaching bad habits. Her? Teaching bad habits? Preposterous!

"Anyway this is just a simple observe and report mission. We've heard rumors of some missing nin being seen in the area. Unless you are attacked, do not provoke or reveal your presence if at all possible. Any questions?" Tsunade looked at the three ninja around her desk.

"How long is the mission requirement?" Kakashi asked trying to negate the negative energy in the room with a distraction.

"You have three weeks to arrive observe and return with you reports. If there are no more questions….you are dismissed." Tsunade said as she took a swig of her sake. After no more questions were asked, Kakashi laughed nervously eager to get out of the potentially hazardous area of being between Sakura and her target he waved his signature good bye and disappeared in a puff of smoke and leaves. Neji turned and decided to exit while he could and walked to the door, he after all was not an idiot. Sakura was still glaring daggers at his back and watched as he stopped at the slightly opened door. Looking over his shoulder at the pink hair hung over mess six feet behind him, he smirked at pointed at her shoe. "I hope tomorrow you don't plan on bringing the rest of your bathroom with you." And he disappeared through the doorway. Quickly looking down at her shoe, Sakura yelped in embarrassment and quickly removed the offending article of toilet paper. A red faced Sakura left the Hokage's office with Tsunade laughing uproariously behind her. Could the day get any worse?

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><p>It wasn't too long after that that Sakura did indeed find that her day could get worse. Not even ten minutes later did the nice and sunny skies turn murky and decided to drown them like rats. It was raining so hard it didn't even matter if you ran or walked, the moment you step out into the weather you were drenched to the bone. The only good thing she could say was that it had been a hot day and so the rain felt good…at least until the air started to cool. Deciding to take the roof way travel system to avoid as much mud as she could, Sakura took off towards Ichiraku's to find Naruto. After all she would be gone for a few weeks and she didn't want to worry him to much by not telling him anything. He was her best friend after all.<p>

It may have taken her a while to realize it, but Naruto was important to her. Ten years ago, when Team 7 first formed, she was ashamed to admit that she had treated him like crap. She still couldn't believe that she had been so far up Sasuke's ass, that she could realize how good of a person Naruto was…well could be. He was, and unfortunately still is, a notorious prankster back in those days. It took her a while, but soon after Sasuke had his ass handed back to him and "came" back to the village after the fourth war…Sakura realized just how important Naruto was to her. Now she didn't think of him in a romantic way, and thankfully he didn't think of her in that way anymore either, but she viewed him as a sort of brother figure.

Thinking of Naruto made her think of the rest of Team 7. Kakashi and she began to train more earnestly after Naruto had first left to go training. Even though she could never take the place of his two other students, she had a special place in his heart just for her. Kakashi was like the silent supportive father of the team in her opinion. He was there when they needed him and that meant more to her than anything. Back when she was just a silly 12 year old, she might not have shown it but she had felt shorted with his lack of training. It wasn't until she had gotten a little older that she realized that just as he didn't train her as much as the boys…she had not been very motivated to seek training from him. They both were at fault and realized it. So they corrected that mistake and now she was just as noted as Naruto and Sasuke as one of his protégé students.

Even though they didn't train or join them in as many missions as they once had, Tenzo and Sai were just as important to their team as everyone else. Even though she and Tenzo weren't as close as say she and Naruto, but they train together and occasionally hung out from time to time. He was like a favored distant uncle. As for Sai…he was like that annoying older brother that you want to strangle but love to much to do so. In the beginning they had a pretty strained relationship, but after realizing that he truly didn't understand society and their mannerisms and "bright" emotions, both she and Naruto began to try and help him. It wasn't too long after that that he became just as important to them as the rest of Team 7…even if he still called her 'ugly' and 'hag'. Ever since Danzo's defeat and the end of the last war, he's been busy trying to help integrate the members of Root into society. Surprisingly he's been doing really well.

Slowing down before she slid _through_ Ichiraku's, she spotted the familiar orange shirt of her best friend Naruto. After Naruto turned eighteen, he finally decided to stop wearing the jumpsuits and started wearing darker orange shirts and standard black ninja pants. A lot safer for the retina's than his previous orange suits. Catching a glimpse of a dark crimson next to Naruto, she noticed the last and final member of Team 7. _Sasuke Uchiha…_

It's been six years since he came back. After the defeat of Madara and Kabuto, Naruto and Sasuke wasted no time in trying to kick each other into the ground. It doesn't take a genius to figure how that battle was fought and who won. After Sasuke had his ass handed back to him in a blinding finale of clashing jutsu's right in his face, he was blinded in the aftermath and had no choice but to return. After he was healed of his injuries, he was incarcerated in prison for eighteen months. After he was released he went through several months of therapy to help him adapt to his blindness. It wasn't a surprise to discover that he still had an aptitude for fighting even without his eyesight and under a lifetime probation and confinement to the borders of the fire country, he was given back his status of Konoha ninja and took a teaching job at the academy with the occasional allowance of supervised missions within the Land of Fire's boundaries.

Out of all of them, Sasuke was the most change. After his return while he was in prison, he was put through countless sessions of counseling and with eighteen months of nothingness, he began to reflect on the past few years of his life and slowly began let go of his hatred and his need for vengeance. It helped that Naruto visited him almost every day. She herself had visited him occasionally, but it took her a while to even come to terms with his betrayal let alone carry on an enlightening conversation the way Naruto could. After eighteen months, he was evaluated and due to a long three day meeting of Tsunade, Naruto, and the newly established council made up of the leaders of the ninja clans…he was released with the agreement of three months of house arrest or heavy guard when out and about in the village. It took several months after that for him to even stop being bitter about his eyesight and one night four years ago the last Uchiha had an enlightening to his life. Sasuke never explained what made him finally let go of his hatred, but that one night he apologized to the whole of Team 7 and thanked them for all the dedication and tears they shed to help bring him back to the light. Naruto was ecstatic, Tenzo and Sai just shrugged it off, Kakashi smiled that smile of his, and as for her? It was a start. It took her two more years to even start to trust him again, but after it was all done with…she couldn't bring herself to love him like she did when they were younger. She cared for him and she would defend him against an army of enemies, but after all the betrayals against Team 7 she could never be anything but a friend. Some scars were too deep to heal.

"Hey Sakura-chan! Are you gonna come and join us for lunch?" Naruto interrupted her thoughts as she made out his waving figure through the blanket of rain. Landing in the recently remodeled and much larger Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, Sakura quickly hugged Naruto and took a seat to his right. Quickly ignoring the pounding hangover she still had, she ordered a bowl of miso ramen and hoped that she could keep it down.

Looking over at the dark crimson figure next to Naruto, she noticed that the sleeves had been cut off of the dark crimson trench overcoat that he had taken to wearing the past few years and that he only wore a black long sleeved armored fish net shirt, standard black shinobi pants, and black shinobi sandals underneath...well and his dark grey kunai pouch on his left thigh. She had to admit that the red highlighted his skin in a different way and was definitely better than that stupid purple thing he wore once upon a time ago. His now long raven black hair was pulled high into a pony tail and the only thing that marred his handsome features was his foggy grey eyes. The blast from his and Naruto's jutsu's six years ago had been too close to his face and resulted in severe eye and face damage. His face had healed without a scar, but his eyes never recovered and nothing that she, her Shishou, or Shizune could do could fix it or ever will. He was lucky to even _have _his eyes. Even though she will always, at least only to herself, miss his intelligent onyx orbs peering at her, she couldn't help but notice that his foggy grey orbs gave him an almost haunting attractiveness. She was guessing his punishment from Karma was ten times more fan girls. Thankfully she wasn't one of them.

"Hey Sasuke, I see that you are well." Sakura murmured to the Uchiha, no longer feeling the hard feelings she used to have towards said man. Sasuke turned his head towards her voice and with a slight smile upon his face he replied, "As well as any I suppose. I take it you were drinking last night?" Sakura was confused for a moment before she realized that due to his blindness, he had no choice but to help hone his other sensing abilities. Two of his strongest senses now were his sense of smell and his hearing abilities. He could smell the alcohol that lingered on her from last night, even with the rain and all. Great, nothing like being self conscious about your body odor!

"Yes and I ended up late to a meeting with Tsunade because of it." She grumbled in reply not really wanting to elaborate anymore on the subject of her drinking and her tardiness. When her order was placed in front of her, she began to slowly eat it. Naruto laughed at hearing about how she was late and the last Uchiha snorted. Not even bothering to turn her head, she shot a sharp glare their way and it quickly shut the two up. "So what was the meeting about?" Naruto asked with a mouthful of ramen. Tempted to swat her teammate in the back of the head for his lack of manners, she took another bite of her ramen before answering. "I'm going on a reconnaissance mission with Kakashi-sensei and the asshole with a stick up his ass." Sakura griped, still angry at Neji and his attitude. Naruto and Sasuke blinked and looked at each other at her choice of words. It didn't take long for Naruto to put his two sense worth in on the matter either. "Well I know you're not talking about the teme here, 'cause what's shoved up his ass is much larger than a stick." Naruto's laughter was quickly silence by Sasuke's fist as it landed on the back of his head. Sakura was about to advise Naruto about the wording of his sentence when she felt a familiar chakra signal enter the stand.

"Quit lying about the size of your penis, dickless." Sai chimed in as he entered the stand and took the empty seat by Sasuke. As Sai's word began to catch up with Naruto, Naruto's face began to turn red. "What-That's isn't-That's-That's not what I meant you asshole! I don't swing that way!" Naruto jumped up and tried to go after Sai, beet red in embarrassment and anger. However Sakura quickly reached over and with her super chakra enhanced strength, pulled him over to his seat. "Naruto, you know he's only trying to bait you. As for who I was referring to it was Neji-san." Sakura said with a sigh as Naruto stopped trying to struggle out of her grip. Grumbling about how he wasn't gay, Naruto sat down and began to polish off another bowl of ramen. Sakura looked over at Sai and decided she was glad he stopped wearing the midriff shirt he wore as a teenager. Even though he still wore all black, he looked much more mature with the standard shinobi pants, sandals, and tight short sleeved shirt that showed off his fit upper body. His jet black hair was even a bit longer, coming down to just past his dark eyes. Luckily his skin wasn't as pasty as it use to be. It was still much lighter than Sasuke's, but at least he didn't look like a dying vampire.

"So how long are you going to be away for?" Sasuke decided to help steer Naruto clear of one of Sai's word traps. Appreciating Sasuke's tact in trying to avoid a needless testosterone fight (even though he partakes of them just as much as Sai and Naruto!) and finished swallowing the ramen she had chewed up. "We have to be back by three weeks. I leave tomorrow so I was hoping to catch at least one of you so you'd know where me and Kakashi were disappearing to." Sakura said as she pushed her empty bowl away and paid for it. Standing up, Sakura decided to leave before any fights broke out between the boys and she got suckered into paying the damage repairs. The way her luck was going today, she had no doubt that it would be a huge bill too. "Well I guess I better go so I can pack for the mission. See you guys later!"

Just as she was about to jump out into the torrent of rain, she was stopped by a hand on her wrist. Looking over into Naruto's vivid blue eyes, she couldn't help but wonder who the lucky girl would be to gain her brothers heart. Shaking her head from her matchmaking schemes, she waited for him to say what he wanted to tell her. She didn't wait long. "You all be careful ok?" He may have sounded like he was asking a question, but this was the serious Naruto. This wasn't asking, this was telling and she didn't even think to get mad. He was only worried and he only said it because he cared. He knew she and Kakashi could handle themselves, but even the best make mistakes. Nodding her head at the future hokage in training, she tried once again to slip out, but was stopped again by the same hand. Looking back to Naruto she was put off by the mischievous glint in his blue orbs. Whatever he had planned, she couldn't help but feel apprehension at what he would say next. She knew she wouldn't like it and by the way he tensed as he opened his mouth, he probably knew she would retaliate the painful way.

"Say Sakura…since your obviously taking on both Tsunade-baa-chan and Kakashi's bad habits…does that mean you also read porn?" Naruto asked with that glint and took off into the rain down the muddy streets of Konoha before she could react. Sakura stood there gaping for all but a few seconds and then took off after him in an angry huff. "_NARUTO! COME BACK HERE!_" As Sakura took off after the mischievous fox container, the two men they left behind in the stand began to laugh.

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><p>A few beatings and several hours later, Sakura found herself here. She was covered in drying mud, damp clothes, was still slightly hung over, and had broken a key in a now broke door knob. After finally catching up with Naruto, they proceed to have an all out sparring match in the rain and mud. Needless to say she thoroughly beat him to a muddy and bloody pulp and by the time she patched him up the rain had stopped, it had started to get dark, and the mud she was covered in had begun to dry and was leaving her clothes stiff and hard to walk in. Great what a wonderful day it had been! Not!<p>

"Great, just great…nothing like breaking into your own apartment on a horrible day." Sakura grumbled to herself as she pulled a kunai out of her pouch on her right thigh and began to try and jimmy the door open. After a few seconds, the door finally slid open and she trudged into the now empty apartment. Looking around and noticed that the mess from the night before had been cleaned up and the dishes had been washed, she decided she would have to leave a thank you present for the girls after she got back from her mission. Deciding to go for a warm shower, she walked to the bathroom and turned on the shower and let it heat up. Looking at herself in the mirror, she realized for the second time in one day she looked like crap. Her clothing, which she hoped the mud stains would come out of, was pretty much a muddy and stiff mess. Her hair hung in muddy clumps around her head and her skin looked like she smeared chocolate icing all over herself. Quickly stripping herself of the muddy clothes, she hopped into the shower and began the long process of cleaning herself of the mud and grime she had collected in the "sparring" match between her and Naruto. Relaxing under the steady stream of hot water, her mind wandered the strange enigma known as Neji Hyuuga. Neji was another change case scenario. Back during her first chunin exams, Neji had been a complete and utter prick. It wasn't until Naruto, naturally, had defeated the arrogant boy that the said boy had begun to change. Yes he was still arrogant and could still be an ass when he wanted to be, but she had seen him be a much better and kinder person to those he trusted. Today he hadn't been nice and he bordered along the lines of the old days, but maybe he was having just as bad a day as she had. She wouldn't write him in her book of jerks permanently just yet. She'd give him another try and hopefully this wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.

Satisfied with herself and her shower, she turned off the water and wrapped a towel around herself and her hair. Walking to her room she dressed in a _matching_ set of pink panties and a tank top before she began to pack various belongings into a couple of scrolls so that she could travel lightly. She couldn't afford to be slowed down on this mission. After packing everything she'd need for the few weeks she would be gone, she decided to go ahead and hit the sack. It didn't take her long to fall asleep after her head hit the pillow. Her last conscious thought was of '_I hope Neji isn't a jerk tomorrow…I'd hate to write someone that looks THAT good onto the list of jerks…' _

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><p><strong>Hello everyone! There's the first part of the prologue. The second part will be in Neji's point of view so I hope you like this one and give me some feedback!<strong>

**This story came to me pretty slow over the past few months now and so I decided to start writing it. I've got it planned out pretty well so it shouldn't take me forever to get the updates out. However before I post any updates I would like to know your opinions and know if I should continue. So please review! Just for note, please do not flame. I do accept constructive criticism however. I want to improve my writing, not hinder it after all.**

**Also this story is rated M for language, violence, suggestive themes, and ****MAYBE**** a lemon or two if I can work up to it. Anything that I think will need to be warned about, I'll place a warning in the beginning of each chapter. I also hope to keep my chapter anywhere between 5000 to 10000 words. Anyway I hope you enjoy the story!**


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